| Lepus 41 |
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THE GOSPORT EAR (Number 41) by LEPUS
There is no doubt that this game is not all about skill: you should not gainsay luck, nor LUC!
You are playing PAIRS, ALL GREEN (n e b) with the Opening Lead: ♥4, after the bidding sequence: -
[1♣] [1♠] /
[1N](a) [2♣](b) /
[2N](c) [3N] End
(a) 12 -16, balanced.
(b) Asking for further information.
(c) 15/16.
♠ J983 ♥ K32 ♦ Q83 ♣ A98
♠ Q4 ♥ AJ85 ♦ AJ9 ♣ K763
You win ♥J (over ♥T from RHO), and start to consider how you might arrive at 9 tricks.
A count of straight winners comes to 6, if the Clubs are 3:3 that will make 7, and if RHO holds both the missing Diamond honours then you have an "easy" 9 tricks. However the odds are not great! The 3:3 break is 36%, and ♦ KT is 25%, that's a 9% game. I suppose that LHO might have led a 3-card suit whenever he was holding both the bid black suits, but in the real world that doesn't often happen.
A second line might be to play for LHO to hold ♠T (if the holding is ♠ Tx, then two Spade tricks will be made). On other layouts, you will need to broach Spades to hope to acquire a trick there, and something like a 50% shot is certainly more attractive than the mooted 9% line.
So after some though you play a Spade to the ♠ 8, losing to ♠ T, and game is still at some remote point on the horizon. But, after winning the trick, RHO also goes into deep thought, eventually cashing ♠ AK and leading a fourth Spade to dummy. So LUC has come into the equation: RHO held no other high cards and had not believed that the play of ♠4 was from a doubleton, and that if you find another line of play he might be stranded with winning Spades.
There is little problem with discarding two Clubs from hand, while LHO also pitches a Club, along with a Diamond.
The ♦Q is passed to LHO who wins, and exits ♥9 to dummy's ♥K. Next come the top Diamonds with LHO following once, then pitching a Heart. ♥A fells ♥Q, and you CLAIM for 9 tricks.
So, what was LUC? The Law of Unintended Consequences came to the rescue when RHO (instead of exiting a Heart) played Spades, effecting a squeeze against his partner.
For the record, LHO held: - ♠ 65 ♥ Q974 ♦ K52 ♣ QJ52, and 8 tricks should have been the limit in NoTrump.
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| Lepus 42 |
THE GOSPORT EAR (Number 42) by LEPUS
Whenever in a Club Pairs event you pick up the following hand...
♠ 7654 ♥ JT8 ♦ KQ75 ♣ A6
♠ A ♥ AKQ9763 ♦ void ♣ KQJT7
...there is always the thought that a contrived hand has been slipped into the proceedings (I have known it happen!). Once you get to any level of Hearts, then unless a Club were to be led and ruffed, it would be an automatic CLAIM. Strangely this hand was played once in [4♥] (my guess would be a pair of beginners), 7 times in the Small Slam, and only once in the Grand Slam. Clearly this hand is solely about the bidding, with the aim to reach the optimum contract.
The Heart suit cannot be termed SOLID, though if the ♥ 9 were to be replaced by the ♥ J then I would posit that most players would support the assertion that the Heart suit would then meet the requirements of solidity, in which case the bidding might proceed (using a very ancient ACOL gadget): -
[4N] [6♣] /
[7♥] End.
The opening bid asks for ACES to be shown: [5♣] = none; [5N] = two; the suit bids [5♦/5♥/5♠/6♣] show the specific Ace, and [6N] = three.
The (standard) ACOL route might go: -
[2♥] [2N](a) /
[3♣] [3♥] /
[3♠](b) [4♣](b) /
[4♦](b) [6♥](c) /
[7♥] End
(a) About 10 HCP
(b) First-round Qbids
(c) Better than ♥ xx.
BENJAMIN might go: -
[2♣] [2♦](d) /
[2♥] [3♥] /
[3♠](e) [4♣](e) /
[7♥] End
(d) Relay
(e) As long as these are first-round controls! I suggest that with a hand like: - ♠ xxxx ♥ JTxx ♦ AKxx ♣ x responder playing lowest Qbid (whether first-, or second-round control) would be best advised to Qbid [4♦], then [5♣], in order to discriminate between the controls.
An "improved" sequence (on the assumption that hearts are SOLID), might be: -
[2♣] [2♦](d) /
[3♥](f) [4♣] /
[7♥] End.
(f) This is the suit we are playing in, please Qbid your lowest ACE.
There might still be some residual doubt that LHO may hold ♥ Jxxx as the opener's suit is not really solid!
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| Lepus 43 |
THE GOSPORT EAR (Number 43) by LEPUS
Regular readers (and occasional visitors) might know that I consider Inverted Minor Suit raises to be one of the few conventions that are worth their weight in Platinum!
♠ AK8754 ♥ 6 ♦ AJ84 ♣ K3
♠ 63 ♥ AT ♦ KT9632 ♣ A62
[1♦] [2♦](a) /
[3♣] [3♠](b) /
[4♦] [4N](c) /
[5♣] (d) [6♦] End
(a) At least 12 HCP with Diamonds no worse than ♦ QTxx.
(b) 5-card suit (Opener has denied a major).
(c) Roman Key-Card Blackwood
(d) 3 key-cards.
There was little in the play after the opening lead was won, followed by two rounds of Trumps (the ♦ Q did fall) CLAIM: 13 tricks.
However the bidding could have taken two different paths...
[1♦] [2♦](a) /
[3♣] [3♠](b) /
[4♦] [4♠](e) /
[5♥](f) [5N](g) /
[6♣](h) [6♠] End
(e) 6-card suit!
(f) Qbid.
(g) Grand Slam Force
(h) Not as much as the ♠Q.
With Spades 3:2 you can quickly CLAIM: 12 tricks.
[1♦] [2♦](a) /
[3♣] [3♠](b) /
[4♦] [4♠](e) /
[5♦](i) [5♥](f) /
[6♥](j) [7♦] End
(i) 6-card suit.
(j) Qbid showing controls in Hearts, and Clubs.
When Diamonds come in (playing the psychologically correct ♦ J first) then quickly CLAIM: 13 tricks.
Somewhat surprisingly, in a Championship Final, [6♦+1] earned all the match-points.
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